Moonlit Evening
by IvyAddams
Summary: Takes place after the movie. On a cold, chilly evening in the White Queen's castle, Alice and the Hatter confront their feelings for one another. One shot. As always, R&R.


When the sun set, darkness had no trouble stretching where it pleased. Casually, it lingered around the castle grounds, flowing for miles and miles past the White Queen's palace. The almost porcelain glow of her kingdom beaconed promise and hope to all in Underland. After all, the Red Queen had been defeated, and their Champion would stay with them forever.

A ghostly white girl stood on the balcony of her room. Lucid, white curtains billowed around her, as if whisking the room into a certain element of oblivion and fantasy. Her dreamlike state almost complemented the pallor of her skin, a luminescent aura surrounding her. The greatest sigh of relief and satisfaction fell from her chest, falling down below her window to the gardens upon the castle grounds. She looked out over the estate, alight in the moon's excited radiance. Beautiful marble pathways spiraled around charming landscape art, connecting to form a shape almost like a centipede.

"Alice," came a whispered voice.

She turned around, looking through the whisky curtains to see a familiar figure lurking in the shadows. A smile spread across her thin lips. "Hatter," she acknowledged.

The Hatter stepped through the lucid curtains to stand beside Alice on the balcony. His exuberant personality was exemplified by his choice of clothes. Orange stripped pants covered his pale legs, and a silk white shirt almost blending into his skin hung lazily over his torso and arms. Yet, much like his clothes, he possessed a faded, worn attitude that had been tried precariously over time. His wild red hair, curling in fiery spirals, bounced shamelessly as he walked. Nervously, he began rambling, "Do forgive me, it is hard to help but stare, not from improperness but from properness, goodness, rightness, right, proper Alice—"

"Hatter!" she interrupted, laughing at his flittering speech. She stared into his brilliant green eyes, livid in the moonlight. His hollow cheekbones set in a tightly framed expression of sheepishness, fiery red eyebrows humbly lowering as he stared down at his long, twitching fingers.

"I—I only wished to say goodnight," he muttered, picking at his unkempt fingernails.

Her hand reached to lift his chin up to her face. She was entranced by his sweet madness, so kind, yet uncontrollable. They stared at each other for a short moment, looked in a parallel of interest. Alice thought she saw something strange behind his silly front, something incredibly serious and masculine, but it flickered away as her hand fell to the ground. Their eyes did not move from one another's glance, however. She felt a shiver run down her spine as a light breeze brushed through her moonlit room, dancing around her pale, slim body. Draped in a light blue, silk gown, Alice's pale skin was illuminated to a certain degree of glowing pallor. Her blonde curls bounced wildly around her face, twisting down her back like snakes.

She parted her lips slightly, not daring to let her glance linger anywhere else as the Hatter leaned in, his mouth nearing hers. Her eyes fluttered closed in an oddly anticipated desire, a sort of girlish ambiguousness. His breath was warm and constant, lightly moistening her soft skin. Then he pressed his lips against hers, their slight distance closing.

It was the most gentle expression of affection the Hatter had ever been privileged to. Something very sweet struck him about her unpracticed kiss, as if she had been saving this moment her whole life just for him. The hand she had placed under his chin slid to the back of his neck, pulling him closer. In what felt instinctual, the Hatter's hands rested on Alice's small hips, his soft kisses never ceasing.

There was a pause. Alice smiled to herself and looked down, almost resenting herself for hoping she would not stop. The Hatter absorbed her, the way her eyebrows arched, each twitch of her lips, every curl in her hair. She was beautiful.

"That was my first kiss," she laughed quietly.

He stared at her with a sort of knowing childishness. "That was an excellent practice," he said, his eyes smiling as brightly as hers.

Alice suddenly broke away, barging through the curtains barring the balcony from the rest of the room. Chilly and clean-cut, the bedroom was decorated with an elegantly carved marble dresser along the wall, a grand bed in the corner, and a glass table taking space in the center of the room. A large mirror consumed one of the five walls, while a glass chandelier hung high above from the arching ceiling, half concealed in shadows. Beautiful statues of white nights lined the walls, while a large, white oak door open only a crack, let in a sliver of light from the bright corridors outside of her room.

While much less activity took place inside of the castle at night, it did not keep the constant rumble of excited animals and creatures from being present in the walls. But Alice enjoyed waking up to the sound of the March Hare babbling about a strayed recipe or some unfortunate tea party. There was an element of liveliness which she found necessary to balance the absolute serenity of the White Queen.

Staring up at herself in the mirror, Alice examined her untamable hair, small figure, and simple gown. She studied her thin lips with a fervent frustration, picking apart her placid face. Eyebrows set in their constantly furrowed state, nose to large for her liking, chin slightly rounded, Alice craved to look like someone else.

She heard her door open further with a creak and saw the Hatter, who had slipped past her silently, about to leave the room.

"Wait!" she yelled suddenly, running over to him. He did not turn back to her but merely stopped, resting his hand on the silver doorknob and pausing his escape.

"Don't go," Alice quietly pleaded, her hand resting on his forearm. He flinched slightly at her touch.

"I'm sorry," she added. "I'm just . . . confused," she managed, hoping he would look back at her.

His eyes, kind as ever, closed at her words. "In what way?" he whispered.

"Well," she said, starting one of her poised explanations, "I'm not sure what to think. It is as if nothing has slowed down since the Frabjous day, I can't seem to regain any sense of normality," she paused, smiling lightly. "Then again, there isn't anything normal about Underland."

The Hatter chuckled. Turning to face her, eyes still not meeting hers, he quietly remarked, "We're all mad here."

"I know," she said, letting a small laugh slip from her lips, staring intently at his shielded, brilliant eyes. "The only thing that has felt real since I decided to stay was you."

His glance flickered up to meet hers, his green eyes transformed slightly, now much harder and darker. Alice watched as the Hatter's entire face transformed with emotion, turning furious, then terrified, becoming solemn, and resolving to hysterics. She watched in terror as his sweet features became sharp and jagged, his cheekbones so prominent they appeared to cut his skin, his fiery red hair exploding on top of his head. He bounded away from her, giggling in laughter and throwing himself against the wall. A high-pitched squeal filled the chilled air as his body landed in a crumpled heap on the floor.

Alice, her pale blue gown lightly flowing with her, swept to his aid. Kneeling beside him, her flawless bare skin shivering against the cool, marble floors, she outstretched a tentative hand towards his contorted arm. He retracted at her touch, pulling further away, and Alice retreated her hand, letting it fall gracefully into her lap. Blonde curls falling in front of her face, Alice sat very still and very silent for many minutes, watching the Hatter as he tried to regain himself. He twitched occasionally, his rough hands suddenly clawing at parts of his flesh unexpectedly, but the lost look in his eyes never left.

The moon had changed his position staring down at the two confused souls, and lay higher in the sky than before. His white, pearly eyes studied the sweet blonde girl as she finally outstretched another hand towards the man's body, wrapping her fingers around his wrist. The man's green eyes melted slowly, looking longingly into the kind blue ones of a young girl he had fallen desperately in love with. Their kissed rather suddenly, and the moon almost laughed to himself. He dissected the way the Hatter's old, chapped lips affectionately nipped at Alice's tender, virginal ones. The moon watched them roll over on the chilly, marble floor, their bodies caught in a fervor of innocent passion.

Scoffing at their immaturity, he shifted his attention down to the fantastic grounds, alight in his gray glow. Perfectly sculpted shrubs and plants, elegant white marble lacing every pavilion, and gentle olive trees placed carefully, decorated an expansive space surrounding the elegant castle. The moon chuckled when he thought of all that had happened in this castle. He had watched the relationship between two royal sisters disintegrate, watched a young girl blossom and flower in her imagination, watched the same child return, a woman, conquering the evils in her wake, watched her choose to stay in the magical home which had given her life, saw her find a motherly figure in the White Queen. And now, he witnessed the same young girl experience a different kind of defining moment in her life, as her unclothed body lay next to another man's. Yet the moon displayed no judgement, nor did he have any preference concerning the affair. He simply watched the world at night, in all of its glory and splendor, and chatted with fellow creatures of darkness.

The world was most fascinating at night, he thought. For fear became instinct and uncertainty, and behaviors naturally turned stranger. The night was the hardest time to be alive, he thought, as he savored a complicated romance and lazily shifted his attention to another world.


End file.
